Day, A Novel, by Michel Cunningham. Heartbreaking Five stars.

After allowing myself a few weeks of fluff in the form of holiday romance novels, I was ready for a novel like Michael Cunningham’s Day in the same way I crave vegetables after binging cookies. They are not just delicious, they are good for you, and restore balance.

 

I feel privileged to have been allowed to read this novel. The writing was exquisite and masterful, as I expected. It is a quiet story of how a family of ordinary people, extraordinary only in their relationships with each other, lived in the ordinary landscape of Brooklyn, in April in 2019, and how those relationships and landscapes twisted, turned, and re-leveled in the next two years. There are eight characters who share point of view with the reader, though one is only an infant we communicate with by observation. The existentialism of the members of this family before COVID, and the way isolation took existentialism beyond the capacity for the characters to cope, whether that be with themselves, their children or mates, or their career choices reflects the emotions and mindset of many of us who survived 2020.

The discovery of these characters and their chosen paths is the joy of this novel, so I won’t go into detail. Themes of self-awareness, fluidity in sexuality, art and expression, spirituality, and the underlying questions of what is feminist, what is traditional, and what is simply human are dealt a gentle hand. It left me wanting to turn back to page one and read it all over again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy. Day will be released tomorrow, November 14, 2023.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. Great Mystery!

 

Gothic romances have a few things in common that readers expect and return to the genre again and again to find. Rachel Hawkins understands this, and delivers in full with The Heiress. A happy couple, haunted by the past that they’ve run all the way to the Colorado Mountains to escape, a family mystery that sent them back, and a gorgeous southern manor filled with dysfunctional family.  A perfect kind of mystery you won’t want to put down.  Delighted to recommend this to my mystery and gothic loving friends. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.  The book releases on January 9, 2024. Happy New Year reading!

Second Chances in New Port Stephen 5* (Content warning: LGBTQIA issues remarkably well done.)

When Eli’s career as a TV writer blows up due to the bad acts of the star of the show he writes for, he decides to return home for the holidays. Many things have changed since Eli was in New Port Stephen, Florida. He’s no longer the stand-up comic he was when he left, he’s sober now, and most importantly to Eli, he’s completed his transition. Florida has changed too, threatening the very existence of people like Eli. 

 

 

 

But his family has not changed and will go to great lengths to show him the love they’ve always had for him, even though they are learning and make mistakes. And then he runs into Nick, his first love, his first lover and someone who is still as intriguing as he was in high school, before Eli transitioned.

The best thing about this book is the way it illustrates romance, falling and re-falling, in love. There is only enough attention to the same sex relationship as the author wants to share with the reader to assure empathy, and it is done so well. The reader is rooting for these two guys to make it, proving that in the hands of the right author, even in a romance novel, love is indeed love. Bravo to TJ Alexander.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Atria Books for the ARC of this wonderful story. The book will be released on December 5, 2023.

Highland Christmas by Amy Quick Parrish 3 stars

 

 

 

I was looking for something easy to read, having just read a couple of long, serious, books. It was time for a bit of brain candy. It’s also November and time to turn thoughts toward the Holidays. So, when I found Highland Christmas on my NetGalley shelf, I was delighted. Even though the book has been out for a year (Published October 25,2022) and has a sequel coming out next year (October 12,2024), it seemed to be just what I needed.

It was fine. The story of Melissa Mackenzie, whose philandering husband Dave (no last name…which is a detail I wanted) had thrown her out of her home after Thanksgiving dinner, so he can snuggle in with her brother’s ex, Samantha, after a quick Christmas trip to Barbados. Melissa is blindsided, but there doesn’t seem to be any grief, especially when the Prince of Nairobi…oh wait, it’s a long-lost uncle in Scotland who has left her a house in Inverness.

So, our Melissa drops everything, packs a bag, and books a flight.

The story goes on with Melissa makes the flight meets all sorts of wonderful, picturesque Scottish, people, finds the house she’s inherited, and not only moves in, renovates it, adopts a dog, and attends all the lovely celebrations of the village. All before Christmas.

While it is a sweet story, almost a fairy tale, the complete lack of detail about characters and complications frustrated me. I almost put it down, but realized there wasn’t that much left to read, as the book is only 128 pages long. I wish she’d had an editor to tell her that people want to know more about the characters … I originally thought Melissa was in her fifties or better, but later it seems she may be in her twenties. And while we got lots of local color, with descriptions of everything from the highland games to the taste of Haggis, we don’t really know much about how our characters feel. Shouldn’t Melissa be angry?  Or sad? 

I got what I was looking for though, a bit of literary candy. Just remember that candy isn’t very nourishing.

This was a NetGalley advanced reader copy. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Flying Cactus Publishing, for allowing me to read in exchange for this review.

Inheritance by Nora Roberts-Audio

 

I am pretty sure I’ve read most of Nora Roberts’ books, at least since the turn of the millennium (though not the J.D. Robb books!). You could call me a die-hard fan.  However, I’d never listened to one before I was invited to do so through NetGalley for Inheritance.

I’m a skeptic when it comes to media…I want my books as books and my movies as movies. Audio books fall someplace in between for me, and I’ve become addicted to listening to novels when I drive or exercise. 

All those caveats aside, I loved listening to Inheritance.  It was fun to hear voices assigned to characters who would have always been distinct in my mind, but maybe not as vivid as these readers.  Sonya, Cleo, and the residents of Poole’s Bay are easy to distinguish and adore.  And then the ghosts! I won’t add spoilers, other than to say that no one writes mysterious magical beings like Nora Roberts.  I was only sad when I realized Inheritance is the first book in a new trilogy, and I’ll have to wait a year or two to finish the story. 

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the chance to read this early and write this review. Nora’s fans won’t be disappointed, and newcomers will be delighted. The book is released November 21, 2023

Wellness by Nathan Hill

 

Nathan Hill’s new novel, Wellness, is a smart love story. There are no simple tropes, the obstacles the central couple, Jack, and Elizabeth, must overcome are largely of their own making, and mostly because they simply think too much. The couple is obsessed with the foundations of human behavior and teaching the nuances of it to the reader. While the relationship between Elizabeth and Jack is endearing and fascinating, their analysis, especially in the murky middle of the book, tends toward tedium. They dwell so intensely on the fields of their interest and research them so extensively…both the characters and the author…that the reader has to resist the temptation to treat the novel as a scholarly work and actually skip the long explanations and examples (footnoted!) and get to the parts where they remember that they CARE about Jack and Elizabeth, their heartbreaking childhoods and how they deal with the fallout as they try to raise their own son.

I urge you, if you get so far into the book that you want to put it aside, don’t. You will not be able to forget Jack and Elizabeth and Toby, and if you finish the book, you will find yourself wanting to have discussions with them, and everyone you meet, about the world you’ve left when you close the cover. The pay-off is worth it. Bravo, Nathan Hill.

This book was published September 19, 2023. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the review copy.

Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino

 

A wonderful story about coming of age in the sixties. Twenty-year-old Marilyn has trouble sticking to the strict rules of her orthodox Jewish family in 1960s New York City. As punishment for her shenanigans, she’s sent to a great Aunt in Philadelphia who is a matchmaker by profession, for the summer. Aunt Ada is nothing like what Marilyn assumes she will be, and she learns more about herself, love, and family than she ever bargained for. Sara Goodman Confino’s characters are abrasive, selfish, and completely lovable. Great for the beach, or anyone who struggles with accepting rules that just don’t seem to apply. Published September 1, 2023. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for sharing this review copy with me.

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen...great thriller!

 

A fascinating book that combines themes of health and mother-daughter relationships and twists them up with a thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I sincerely didn’t see it coming.

Ruth is a single mother whose family has “thrown her out” when she becomes pregnant with her beloved daughter, Catherine. Ruth moves away and sacrifices everything for her daughter, working low paying jobs, foregoing education, and relationships of her own to assure her daughter is safe and happy.

Catherine is a nurse with big plans, ready to get on with her new career and life when a diagnosis blindsides her plans. That diagnosis whets Catherine’s appetite to know more about the family she shares with her mother, and her investigation threatens more than exposing her mother’s secrets.

Another creative and exciting thriller by Sarah Pekkanen! Don’t miss it!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. The book went on sale on August 1, 2023.

America by Mike Bond

 

Mike Bond is clearly a student of history and world events. He’s also a fine writer. Sometimes, it isn’t the best novel to combine everything the author knows into one project, even if he takes seven books to do it.

America is the first novel in a seven-book series tracing the history of the United States and many other world conflicts. Having lived through many of the events described in the book, purportedly from the point of view of different characters, I didn’t find the author’s narrative to be balanced journalism or believable dialogue for his characters. Many times, he quotes speeches and writing from the time, though always with a slant.

The book switches point of view often between two male characters and two females. Despite growing up in the same community, and the same household for three of them, they have divergent views on war, patriotism and education that feel, at least in the last half of the book, preachy. However, I loved the first half, where the author introduces Mick, Troy, Tara and Daisy, and their rural childhoods and coming of age stories set the stage for the novel.

Bond then takes the four and tries to cover all the politics, religious issues, sexuality, and philosophy onto them. Maybe ONE character’s quest would have been okay, but the reach of this book, and the number of characters needed to cover the agenda, was just too much.

Bond is an excellent writer. His settings are brilliant, almost sentimental and his characters are people I liked knowing. I just wish they hadn’t fallen into the stereotypes of the day and used a bit more common sense. And restraint.

After the Rapture by Nancy Stohlman

 

 

I know how long this book was in process, as the writer struggled with it through the pandemic, so I’m pretty sure it is coincidental that it finally made it into readers hands the same year the Barbie Movie hit screens. But in many ways, the movie helps extend the metaphor of this smart Novel in Flash. If you don’t know what a Novel in Flash is, you will find not only that Stohlman is at the forefront of this exciting new-ish- form of literature. Each chapter is like looking at a short film or contemporaneous photograph where all the questions of “if” and “how” we have about culture in the 21^st century, when confronted with big box stores, pink plastic worlds inhabited by Fashion Model Dolls who do everything, contrast with ancient scripture. Human nature and confusion frolic with base needs and desire, and the whole doesn’t only make us question how we live but make us finally know we deserve answers.

This is art in high form. While we aren’t always sure we know what it means, we know “it tickled something forgotten, something buried so far down it seemed like a past life memory. Like an alternate childhood. Like fear.”

 

Sidle Creek, by Jolene McIlwain 5 stars!

 

 

 

Not only one of the best short story collections I’ve read, but one of the best works of fiction of the decade. McIlwain takes the beautiful and harsh landscapes of Appalachian West Pennsylvania and creates community with the landscape, the creeks and rivers, the wildlife and the wonderfully complex people who live there. They are not all lovable people, and the situations where, especially young people, encounter will tax the readers understanding of right and wrong. McIlwain is a seasoned writer with a deft hand at descriptive narrative, spot on dialect and dialogue and an imagination that takes stories handed down through myth and generation and paints a picture of America that we don’t often see. She’s been compared to Louise Erdrich, Annie Proulx and others concerned with people in troubled landscapes just trying to get by. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver, is another book we loved this year, for bringing people of the mountains forward in ways that help even city dwellers get it. McIlwain clearly “gets it” and this book should jump to the top of your stack for both individual and reading groups alike.

Almost Deadly, Almost Good, by Alice Kaltman

 

In this collection of stories, Alice Kaltman studies both virtue and vice, and with her complex characters, it is hard to tell the difference. Kaltman’s exquisite fiction brings these people to life in ways that extend beyond the pages of their own stories, bleeding sometimes into other ones in the book, and even in other books. Like visiting people we know. but are never quite sure if we like them, or want to keep our distance. Whether you want to laugh or cry, it’s a brilliant collection, highly recommended.

Off the Map by Trish Doller

  

This was my first book by this author, but I can’t wait to read her other books!  Off the Map is the story of Carla Black, a woman who has been raised to always go where she wants to go, travel light and not look back. Her motto is “here for a good time, but not for a long time.”  Until she meets Eamon Sullivan, wbo is supposed to drive her to the wedding of his brother and her best friend. Their instant connection exceeds anything either has experienced before and instead of heading across Ireland to participate in pre-wedding festivities, the two take a detour into the beautiful mountains and valleys of Ireland in a romance that makes even the most jaded of us swoon.

Whether it’s Ireland itself, Carla’s declining father Biggie and his wife Stella, or the Sullivan clan…to say nothing of Carla and Eamon’s adventure into love, you’ll find plenty of charm in this fun book. Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this review copy.

The Referral Program by Shamara Ray

 

In the olden days, people didn’t find dates on Tinder or other social media programs. They met potential mates at work, church, school, and through friends and acquaintances, sometimes on blind dates. So, I was a bit skeptical about where this book was going when the three protagonists thought their “Referral Program” was something “new” that had to be kept secret.

Sadly, my opinion went downhill from there. The three protagonists, Ivy, Brooke, and Dylan, where indistinguishable from one another. They had different jobs, yes, but they were all beautiful, shapely, ambitious black women with high expectations for relationships. But … they didn’t have anything that differentiated them from each another. Likewise, the male characters they “referred” to one another. All successful, handsome, wealthy, fit black men. Everyone was experienced in dating and relationships, and suddenly, they all had the same goals. Only one, discarded character was “less” –and that was because he was nine years older and sold cars for a living (though of course, he owned three dealerships.)  Buzz words like Faith, Integrity, Loyalty are present throughout, whether through the mouths of the male characters, or the female.

First dates are painful for most people, tenuous at best, especially blind dates. I hate to say the reader struggles through no fewer than seven first dates in this novel, each painful. And when a couple finally gets to sex, these bright, educated, mid-thirties women refer to their own genitalia as “kitty” or “flower” and it was … for the reader…awful.

Finally, the author had trouble with point of view throughout the book, jumping from one woman to the other …and since they were indistinguishable in language or goals, it was difficult to follow. At one point, we even switched to one of the men’s point of view mid chapter and without warning. When anyone tried to have a conversation with a potential mate, the “dialogue” turned into preachy monologue. Three lines from one character at a time is a rule many writers have been taught. This one missed that lesson. It is not unusual to read 10-12 lines with no break, and sometimes, honestly 22-25. I have no sense of the setting and very little sense of the characters actions, habits, distinguishing features, etc.

I hate to leave a less than stellar review, as I know it takes so much to write a novel. I believe this writer has the skills to do a better job. The book is The Referral Program, and it will be released August 29, 2023. Thanks to the publisher, Atria Books and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser

 

Jess has run away from a domestic situation and leaves nearly everything she owns behind. Her journey takes her to Wales, where she takes refuge in her small tent in a cemetery. The ele

ments are harsh, and Jess finds an empty house with electricity still on and she respectfully moves in.  All is well, until the owner of the house finds her.

Her discovery, and the kindness of the owner result in Jess finding an unaccountable friendship and happiness, as together they restore the house. Jess and Gethins’ friendship is exactly what each needs to heal from their past relationships, and their self-doubt keeps the pages turning.  An utterly charming book, though you will find yourself wanting them to get on with it!

The book will be published September 26, 2023, by Random House. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

 

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue

 

A warm and melancholic tale of coming of age in Ireland, 2010. Rachel and James meet at the bookshop where they are both trying to earn enough to live on. Alone, they can’t but their fabulous chemistry lets them believe they can do it together. They move into a flat on Shandon Street and they discover the most important relationship in their lives to date…best friends.

Rachel has always known that James is gay, but he starts the journey well in the closet (though everyone who knows him, know!). Rachel is finishing her English degree and both of them are ready for love to find them. The twists and turns and complications – and betrayals—that lead them to their next phase are shattering… for both of them and their friendship.

Importantly, access, or lack thereof to reproductive healthcare in Ireland at the time, and the rest of the world now, is a central theme in this book. The journey of those most personal of decisions is traced both for the characters  and the law.

The book deals with serious subjects in a respectful and often humorous way. A very good read—Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Knopf, for providing the review copy. The book was released on June 27, 2023 and is available now.

Love, Holly by Emily Stone

 

 

 

  

Holly and her beloved sister Lily are on the way home for the holidays. A stop for coffee, a change in the weather, and their lives spin out of control in ways neither would have ever believed.

I loved this novel, for its willingness to let bad things happen to good people who find themselves in irreparable situations. It is full of great characters, wonderful art, and the reactions of its characters to art. We get to experience rural England alongside London, and we get to be part of two lovely, though damaged, families.  

If I say more, I’ll be forced into spoiler territory, so I’ll just say that this was a lovely book by an author who’s become a “don’t miss” for me. The book releases September 26, 2023 and will be great for the holidays.

 

The Sweetheart List by Jill Shavis

 

This was a lovely romance, set in a small town on Lake Tahoe. Harper, the protagonist is looking for a new start and adopts the “spark joy” mantra for her new life.  She wants to start a bakery in this place from her childhood that holds happy memories.

Right away Harper encounters challenges.  The weather, the condition of the property, the sexy bartender next door, and the homeless teen who needs someone to help.  The story is well told and easy to read and qualifies as one of the best romances of the year.  If that’s what you want, don’t miss this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the early copy!

One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris

 

This book begins with a Content warning: Sara, our protagonist, was raped and became pregnant from that incident. She has moved far from her Savannah home—to Maine—to escape the constant scrutiny of the town where the rape occurred, far from the rapist’s family to a jurisdiction where they have no rights to Sara or her child.

Sara has maintained her isolated existence for nearly a decade, keeping in touch with her father via video calls, and putting her life on hold. But when he faces a final, terminal medical diagnosis, Sara regrets being away so long and returns.

There she must revisit all the consequences of putting a pillar of the community’s son behind bars, as well as her father’s mortality. The book is well written and sensitive—often heartbreaking. Set in the outskirts of Savannah, the ocean and islands of the deep south help set a temperature for the novel and its characters. There is southern charm and hospitality, but also undertones of class, racism and pride that make this book so readable.

My only problem with the book results from my legal background. The book posits that no one knew of Sara’s pregnancy, yet we are also told she was a witness, subject to cross examination, at her rapist’s trial. He had top notch lawyers, but he was still sentenced before her pregnancy became evident. I didn’t find that credible. I also had trouble with the lack of overbearing heat in Savannah in the summer but am willing to accept that one acclimates to extremes.

I enjoyed the book and admired the characters and look forward to reading this debut author’s next one. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the early copy.

The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner

 

Abby Stern is a thirty-four-year-old, curvy, single woman who has found herself. She walks dogs and other gig economy jobs to pay her bills, lives in a tiny, cluttered but comfortable apartment and is all but engaged to Mark, a gorgeous doctor Abby first met as a pre-teen at fat camp when he was at least double his adult, buff size.

Then she meets Sebastian while fueled by copious amounts of tequila at her friend’s bachelorette party. Let’s just say sparks fly, but they don’t exchange numbers.

Fast forward to Abby’s best friend, who runs a bicycle tour group, who needs Abby to lead a group. Abby is an avid cyclist but has never run a group on her own. Because she loves her friend, and cycling, she agrees, and the next ten days are filled with enough crises to fill several books!

The cycling is almost a character in this book, and since I know the author is very much into the sport, I often felt like I was chatting with a good friend about it and daydreaming about the lovely Empire Trail. But each of the dozen participants complicated that dream in ways that I would never have guessed. One of the participants is Abby’s mom, thin, elegant and body obsessed. Another one is a pregnant teenager. And the most complicating one, is Sebastian. The one-night stand.

Weiner never just writes a love story without hitting major social issues, though her answers are admittedly best only for her character. This book is no different. Empowerment of women, abortion rights, weight shaming, sex shaming, aging, social media limitations and even the weather fill this lovely journey with clouds. Not everyone will agree with how they are handled, but the story will be hard to put aside.

Props to the author and editors for the title! Breaking Away was one of my favorite movies in the seventies, and the tie in with the bikes was fun!

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Must Love Flowers by Debbie Macomber

As a long-time fan of Debbie Macomber books, I was delighted to see her return after a threatened retirement! Must Love Flowers didn’t disappoint—Macomber’s characters are not the run of the mill twenty-something romance novel heroines and heroes, but fully fleshed people with real problems.

The four main characters, Phil, Joan, Maggie and Nick have all experienced major setbacks in their lives and bond over their individual grief. Phil and Joan are in their 50s, Maggie and Nick are in their twenties. The fact that Maggie boards with Nicks Mother, and Nick works for Phil’s landscaping business, creates interesting situations and tangles that are so delightful to read. I also appreciate the lack of explicit sex in Macomber’s books—she artfully weaves the romance, including physicality, without overwriting it for her reader. It’s a great book, thoughtful and educational, especially where the processing of grief is concerned.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for the advanced copy!

California Golden by Melanie Benjamin 4*

 

 

Melanie Benjamin is well known for her historical novels and I was delighted to find the history chosen for this book to be more recent. It deals with the cultural challenges of two sisters left to fend for themselves in the era of free love, surfer movies and the women exercising their rights to compete in sports, specifically surfing. The book addresses a wide range of issues from racism to the drug culture, neither glossing over the hardships faced by people pulled into various lifestyles.

Mindy and Ginger tried to keep their family together, but neither of their parents had the girl’s interest at heart. Left to find their own places in a world of dangerous and competitive surfing, the girls chose opposite paths. Their stories are frustrating and heartbreaking. Having lived through this era, I don’t always respect the decisions the characters make, but it was fascinating to read it from a different perspective.

Golden California will be released on August 8, 2023, in time for a few last trips to the beach, either to read, or hop on a surfboard!  Thanks to the Publisher, Random House Publishing Group Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC.

Rootless, by Krystle Zara Appiah: Wonderful writing, disappointing ending. 3*

 

I read this book because I loved learning about the culture of Ghana in another debut book, Maame, by Jessica George. Because I’d read that one and loved it, I was prepared to meet more multidimensional characters and fascinating settings with the same type of background. In that regard, I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the characters…Efe whose childhood trauma shaped her adult choices and ability to make decisions and speak up for herself. Her husband, Sam, whose own childhood was marred by the abandonment of his mother. These characters were faced with the same problems most young people starting out face: financial, work life balance and the shift of responsibility that happens when children come along. I never doubted that Sam and Efe loved each other, even when they individually sought relationships with others. But once their daughter was born, they seemed to stop listening or hearing each other. Sam wanted a traditional family. Efe couldn’t overcome her PPD and disconnect in a way that let her give that to him.

Without giving away the wonderful plotting and weaving of the characters in their dual locations of London and Ghana, I must confess that the ending ruined this book for me. The author had the skill…she showed it throughout the novel, to deal with a complicated ending, and in my opinion, she just didn’t. As a reader, I was insulted. I felt too invested in the characters and the way they worked through issues to accept the ending choice of the author. That’s why I’m not giving my usual 5 star. Maybe she’ll get a chance to do a script for the movie version and can rewrite it!  I hope so.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine for the review copy. The book is available now.

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese...Oprah picks another 5 star book

 

This year has been a treasure of wonderful books and Abraham Verghese’s new release is at the top. Beginning in 1900 in Travancore, South India with the arranged marriage of a twelve-year-old girl to a forty-year-old man who owns agricultural land days away from her home, the story unfolds as they characters grow and change and love and die. Each character is so lovingly rendered that the reader falls for them too, with all their strengths and weaknesses. Centered around a community of Saint Thomas Christians, we follow our original couple and their family through the tumultuous times of independence in India, the revolt against the caste system, industrialization, and modernization.

Verghese is a doctor, and his love of medicine and knowledge is shared by many of his characters as they fight for basic healthcare, Conditions that are inexplicable, and those that are. Some of the best scenes are set in a Leprosarium, where we learn compassion and hope for those on the farthest edges of society.

To say the writing is both beautiful and wise would not do justice to the storytelling and the delicate care this author gives to his characters as well as his readers. The book is 736 pages long, but you will be sorry it isn’t twice that. It’s that wonderful.  It was released on May 2, 2023 by Grove Press.

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal

For anyone with roots in the Midwest, reading a J Ryan Stradal book is like a visit home. For me, it is full of all the things I loved about growing up there, and all the reasons I left. That part of the company both fills you up, and breaks your heart, and that’s exactly what I want good fiction to do. Stradal delivers this in spades.

The Lakeside Supper Club stands to represent all the local eateries that specialize in a good old fashioned and prime rib, especially on Saturday nights. This story follows the family as the business of the supper club ebbs and flows and supports the families who work and live there. It contrasts with the chain restaurant, Jorby’s, which was the legacy of another family, and illustrates how big business has either prospered, or destroyed, the locals.

Stradal does a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. Florence, who we follow over her full timeline, is the stubborn old woman we are probably related to, but she’s quite a marshmallow inside. Her daughter, Mariel, represents so many of the sad things we experience in life—poverty, death, miscarriage, isolation, etc.—that we can’t help but root for her and her only child, Julia. And Julia represents what we want most for children—hope, respect for nature and history, but most of all fulfillment.

This is a story of hardship and love, legacy, and individualism. It jumbles timelines a bit and there are a LOT of characters to keep track of, but going home is like that, isn’t it?

Bravo to Stradal for another great book. Though… does ANYONE know what the twelve great salads of Western civilization are? So much to learn!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Viking for the ARC. This goes on my gift giving list for summer readers!

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

 

Lucy had an awful childhood, marked by absent parents and a sister whose illness always took precedence over Lucy’s life. After losing her fiancé and her unborn child to miscarriage, she takes a job in a community and becomes attached to Christopher, a young boy whose parents are killed and who finds himself in foster care after foster care. The two of them connect, and Lucy longs to foster Christopher, but with no home, car, or money, can’t meet the qualifications. She just wants to be his mother.

Jack Masterson is the author of dozens of popular children’s books, but mysteriously stops writing. Together with his Illustrator, a game, The Wishing Game, is created, and only children who’ve been invited by the reclusive Jack can play. Why they were chosen, and the unfolding game tells a story so heartbreaking and whimsical, that the reader wants them all to win.

This is a well written, sweet story with just enough adventure and romance to soften the most bitter of us. It’s written in a style that will delight middle grade readers, though it’s listed as sci-fi and Women’s fiction. None of the whimsy seemed too far-fetched, and the book is equally entertaining to those of us who are older.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine for the ARC of this delightful story. It will be released on May 30, 2023.

 

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin. Best book of the year for me. 5++*

 

I should start by confessing to almost be a Cronin fangirl. Fell for his writing in his literary works, Mary & O’Neill and The Summer Guest, books totally in my wheelhouse. Then he wrote the Passage Trilogy. Most all my readers know that I am not a sci-fi fan… I want things based in real worlds and real emotion. I credit both Cronin’s skill and artistry for giving me a sci-fi apocalyptic trilogy that yes, I could love. Literary Sci-Fi is obviously a thing! I eagerly anticipated each volume and was never disappointed.

And now he brings us The Ferryman. Literary Sci-Fi? Yes. Maybe even post-apocalyptic. But what shines brightest in this gorgeous novel are the unforgettable, flawed but endearing characters and settings that change with a page turn to be first what we think they are, and then something else entirely. It’s frightening, and it’s magical.

Ultimately, this book is a tribute to dreams, and those who work to make dreams come true. It is a tribute to storytelling, and the value stories provide to make life understandable, bearable. It is also a tribute to art, and love, and family, and the sea, which frames the story. It makes the reader ask Big questions, about humanity, religion, history and the future. You will not soon forget the people you come to know and care about in this book. I can’t wait to read it again. And you know I never re-read books!

Best book so far this year. Thank you NetGalley and Random House- Ballantine for the ARC. The book will be released on May 2, 2023

Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano 5*

 

Family dynamics play the main role in this novel of the Padavano family, Charlie, the father whose standard greeting to his wife and four girls give the book its title, and the four wonderfully drawn characters of the daughters and their lives in Chicago in the sixties and seventies. Catholic mores, a strong mother who believed in appearances, and daughters thrust into a world where all the rules are changing set the stage as we get to know Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia and Emmeline and the people who become important to them. Regardless of their differences, these sisters share a bond that is as strong as their literary heroes, the March sisters from Little Women.

But the complications of life in the twentieth century create situations that tests even strong bonds. As the young women grow into their lives, death, marriage, education, children, and careers turn them away from their core. But above the complications, love and beauty, art, and family help to bring them back to center.

I am a fan of Ann Napolitano’s work and loved Hello, Beautiful. It is a long book, but I hated to see it end. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers copy.

Maureen, a Harold Fry Novel by Rachel Joyce

 

Maureen, A Harold Fry Novel by Rachel Joyce

Maureen is an unhappy woman living life in her small English town the way she feels is expected of her. Cleaning her home, making sure the coffee cups handles all line up and caring for her husband, Harold. Only Harold’s life included his work, friends, and a walk across the country to visit one of them as she died. The thing both Harold and Maureen share is their grief—their son David has committed suicide. Harold learns acceptance on his long walk and encourages Maureen to make the pilgrimage to the garden of the friend, a woman, whose impending death inspired his healing walk, and where, he says, David, their son, is.

In an action out of character, Maureen takes their car and sets out to drive to this place, to get away from the grief she feels living with a calm Harold, and to find both herself and David. It’s a beautiful story of how women can isolate themselves in routine, and only when Maureen faces calamity along the way to she appreciates the gift she’s been given.

This is the third book of three by this author dealing with these characters, but even without having read the earlier books, this one made sense and emotional and resonant.

I received an ARC of Maureen from the publisher, Random House, and it is on sale February 7, 2023

Maame by Jessica George. Wonderful debut!

Maame by Jessica George

 

Maddie is the twenty-five-year-old daughter of Ghanian descent who is the glue supporting her dysfunctional family. As her father slips away with Parkinson’s disease, her brother enjoys independence from all responsibility, since Maame (Maddie) takes care of everything, and even her mother leaves her in charge, to spend every other year in Ghana. So, Maddie stays home and is her father’s caretaker. Stuck in a job that doesn’t value her, with a few close friends from high school and no social life, Maddie bears the burdens of family without reprieve.

When her mother returns, Maddie takes the opportunity to find out how life can be and moves out. And it all falls apart.

The name Maame, what her mother has called her from childhood, means Woman, and implies that she carries the weight of the family on “heavy shoulders.”  Despite the burden, this book is more a tale of discovery and growth than sorrow and shame. George’s voice is fresh and gives a peek inside Ghanian culture as an immigrant, but also the story of how family values mold and guide characters, even when they reject them.

Thank you to St Martins and NetGalley for this ARC. Maame goes on sale January 31,2023.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. Another win: 5*

 

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Sadie is a talented, starving young artist living in a not quite ready for habitation apartment owned by friends. She has finally, after years of hard work, placed as a finalist in an international portrait competition. She’s going to get her chance, and then…

She doesn’t remember. She doesn’t remember why she was in the street, or who helped her. She vaguely remembers a kind, handsome man, and she knows her evil stepmother, who may not be so evil, waiting in the hospital.

 With the diagnosis that she has an operable brain injury, Sadie is forced to make a decision that will effect the rest of her life. Will she be able to compete after the surgery? Will she even be able to paint? And who was that kind, handsome, man?

In true Katherine Center form, these questions are answered with humor, empathy and quite a bit of emotion. The things Sadie must go through to reach her own conclusions are heartbreaking, but beautiful. Plus, we get to learn all sorts of new, mostly unknown, facts about the brain and how it works.

Another winner for Katherine Center, who bring joy to literature and isn’t embarrassed to love romance novels---anymore.

Hello Stranger goes on sale July 11, 2023. Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this copy.